Treva Silverman

In her two-and-a-half-hour interview, Treva Silverman talks about her early interests and the first time she recalls getting a laugh, at age six. She describes her early career in comedy, writing for television specials and working as a writer for Joan Rivers. She discusses her work as a writer on the popular 1960s series The Monkees, commenting on the characterizations created for each performer and the process of writing series episodes. She speaks about her writing for the 1960s series Captain Nice and He & She, both of which were well-received but short-lived, as well as the landmark drama Room 222. Silverman speaks in great detail about The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for which she won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series and Writer of the Year (Series) in 1974. She talks about working with series creators James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and the fact that the show observed no pecking order with the writers ("the best line wins"). She talks about the creation of the "Georgette" character (played by Georgia Engel) and many of "Rhoda's" (Valerie Harper) traits and storylines being based on her own personal life. She details such classic episodes as "Today I Am a Ma'am," "Rhoda the Beautiful," and "The Lou and Edie Story." She then talks about her semi-retirement from writing and her later contributions to writing television and films. Allan Neuwirth conducted the interview on September 18, 2007 in Los Angeles, CA.